Giving up self employment

wilf2

I have got myself into a bit of a pickle and am now seeking advice as to what to do next.
I was made redundant in January this year, I was unemployed for 3 months claiming contribution based Jobseekers allowance, on April 10th I started working as a driver for an agency, this lasted about 8 weeks and in total did about 10 days work.
I then went self employed delivering furniture, I was sub contracting for a company that had got very busy. I have registered for self assessment, and for VAT. This lasted for twelve weeks.
Things were great for the first few weeks then everything seemed to go wrong. I rented a van on a weekly basis, two vans broke down and the rental company would then not rent a van to me saying the second breakdown was driver error, when I argued that how could a gearbox going be my fault they said that it was the amount of miles that I was doing. I then had to hire a van from elsewhere which was £130 per week dearer.
I did not receive any payments for 4 weeks although I had invoiced promptly, which meant that I had no money left to hire the next weeks van and pay for fuel. When I did receive a payment I then started to deliver again.
The work involved heavy lifting which I struggled with, also I could not afford to pay for someone to help,.
The final straw came when unloading a vehicle a piece of furniture slipped and hit me on the head, and the next day I was trying to manoeuvre a couch and that slipped and hit me on the head/neck, I then was unable to load the vehicle so decided to finish.
I did not see the need to go to hospital as I did not think that the injuries were too serious.
My problem is what on earth do I do now.
I have been in touch with the agency and there is a possibility they can give me some work but it is not certain.
Do I deregister for self assessment, and pay income tax for the last 4 months and also NI contribution (as yet I have paid nothing in this tax year) and if so would I then be able to claim jobseekers seeing as it was my decision to finish.
I would be grateful if anyone could give me some advice.

polkadot

Not sure really where to next (but I do sympathise).Just a thought-how much was your profit?(doesnt sound like much). Im a hobbyist cake decorator so have registered with all the relevant authorities to stay "above board".Im not yet making a profit and so have applied for a small earnings exemption...I think the limit is £6000pa-you'd need to check with HMRC regarding the exact limit) but it does help in that I dont pay NI contributions and last year I got a bit of my VAT back that Id spent on equipment (again,wasnt much but it all helps).

Is this maybe an option for you?Then you could stay registered whilst you work toward slowly getting up again.It sounds a brilliant idea-just needs some fine tuning.

Mistral001

I admire your endeavors to find work and to go self-employed. I have been self-employed for over 14 years.

Basically you are suffeing from lack of capital. Sounds fancy but all it means is that you do not have the spare capacity to deal with the ups and downs of your business.

Is your business a two-man one? It sounds like it is. If it is not then you unfortunate injuries are perhaps stress-related having to cope with the worries of running a business for presumably the first time. Can you call upon friends and relatives to help you out carrying things for you until you get better established (help like that can be considered as capital I suppose).

wilf2

Thanks for your replies,I don't think carrying on is an option now as I have not done any deliveries for a fortnight now, there were 3 of us doing this and there is probably only enough work for 2.
I don't know whether I should deregister from self assessment and try to get agency work, if I can't get agency work then can I get jobseekers allowance?

Horace

You have my sympathies. Try looking for agency work in the meantime, and maybe keep your self employment going if you can because you can be employed and self employed at the same time.

Certainly speak to the HMRC about your VAT status - personally, I wouldnt have registered for VAT as you have only just started out. As you are on low income ask the HMRC for an NI Exemption and start claiming working tax credits.

With regard to your invoices make sure you have terms on them eg. payment required within 14 days or take 50% deposit up front and 50% on completion of the job, that way you are not hanging around for weeks' on end waiting for money.

Apply for courier work as there are companies who specialise in this work and you may be able to pick up some work with them.

Good Luck - I know how tough it is out there at the moment, I have been self employed for 2 years now and am forced to find a job that will pay me even though I have something that can make me money - I am stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment because I have limited funds to run the thing to make it successful:(

Mistral001

wilf2 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies,I don't think carrying on is an option now as I have not done any deliveries for a fortnight now, there were 3 of us doing this and there is probably only enough work for 2.
I don't know whether I should deregister from self assessment and try to get agency work, if I can't get agency work then can I get jobseekers allowance?

I do not think you have to "deregister" from self-employment as you put it. You will still have to fill in the self-employment part of your tax return at the end of the financial year. You will have to tell HMRC that you are no longer self-employed so that they can send you the "normal" PAYE forms for the next financial year. The National Insurance situation needs to be clarified as well.

You need to get advice on VAT registration as it will probably take a while to convince the VAT authorities that you are no longer trading.

If you can afford it, see an accountant.

tigeress289

You should never register for VAT unless you are guaranteed a turnover of £75K + and already been buying materials , which you could claim back . De register asap. As for self empoyed, you have earned nothing,so sign back on and declare if you receive work part time whilst signing on. Well done for trying ,but its not as easy as most think. Sign on as your bills will start rising and have a re think.